Psychologist, Psychotherapist & Clinical Supervisor

Happy New Year 2014!

Far too many of us devise a long list of resolutions every New Year’s Eve. Many of them are good ideas, really good ones. Like quitting cigerettes, drinking less, eating more healthily, saving money, giving more time to study/ family/ friends, cutting down on road rage … Then you have a bad day, a stressful one. You allow yourself to indulge in just one smoke (sure what harm can ONE do??!), or a giant lump of salty saturated fat, a little tantrum…. then enter your three familiar companions: judgement, guilt and the feeling of failure…Well, you get the idea, you’ve been there no doubt!

So this year, I respectfully suggest we all keep it simple. So I’ll keep this short:

Picking realistic goals makes success more likely, and we feel good when we succeed. (Not rocket science, I know, and that’s what I like about it!).

Allow for mistakes, because changing a behaviour takes time, effort, and slip-ups. This is normal and OK. Guilt is unhelpful and unnecessary.

Accessing support is helpful too – changing a behaviour or starting a new one is a lot easier when we have company. Again, it’s not rocket science. So start thinking about who you know that may have similiar goals (or established expertise) or someone who is simply supportive of your desire to change. If you don’t know anyone in real life who shares your goals, you might find an online community, group or individual.

And bottom line, if you resolve to be kinder to yourself, then all else will fall into place more easily.

Happy New Year to you all!

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